Digital playback systems, such as digital video recorders (DVRs), have become more popular with consumers. DVRs typically interface with a cable or satellite provider and a television set. A DVR typically comes equipped with a hard disk drive that enables a consumer to record programs such as movies, television shows, subscription sports, and other programming as digital files. DVRs are similar to videocassette recorders in that they enable a consumer to time-shift their viewing choices.
However, DVRs offer advantages over conventional video cassette recorders. For instance, DVRs typically can record approximately one hundred hours of programming versus eight hours on a videocassette. Manufacturers also are continuously introducing DVRs with larger and larger disk drives to increase their programming capacity. Further, the programming recorded on the hard disk of the DVR is not subject to the degrading effects during playback as compared to the videocassette tape.
Despite the ever-increasing sizes of disk drives, recorded programs (or files) on a DVR have to be eventually deleted to make room for new programming. For a single user of a DVR, this is typically not a problem of reviewing the recorded programs and deleting selected programs. However, when several individuals, e.g., members of a family, share a DVR, the decision to delete a recorded program becomes more problematic. For instance, the typical DVR does not have an equivalent function to the Microsoft Windows™ “Recycle Bin”, that is, once a program is deleted, it cannot be recovered. Thus, as a matter of course, the individuals sharing a DVR, should meet and decide as a group which recorded programs are to be deleted. This meeting of the individuals may be inconvenient as most individuals have varying schedules.